Sorry Woj - don't buy it
I figure he'd sign here after the season (people need to stop talking about a player refusing to sign the extension as some sort of sign, 5 years is better than 3 years folks) because he'll want that fifth year, but don't see this trade happening...honestly, I think the new orlando GM is off to a rocky start even with the situation he was thrust into.

I'm inclined to doubt every bit of good news, so I'm with you. Don't think Gasol makes a difference at this point, but if you can get Bynum I'd be extremely excited. They'd probably wind up having to give up a first-rounder or two in the deal as well.

I have no idea how the money can work that the sixers obtain Gasol and Bynum and only give up Iguodala, they don't have the 'brand room' any more cause they wasted it (though this possibility is the exact reason the brand room should have been created and NOT used on useless place holders like kwame brown, nick young and giving spencer hawes more money than any other team in the league would have)...the machinations of a 4 team deal where the sixers take on 50-75% more salary (approximately, i'm just guessing) than they give up aren't readily apparent to me - but I'm sure someone can make the magic ESPN trade machine work it out.

As a whole it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me - and the lakers are better WITH bynum AND gasol then only with howard...right there it gives me pause...

Bucher all but says this deal is undoable, so it must be a sure thing. Seriously, I never thought LA would trade both Bynum and Gasol, but I guess the calculus is a little different with Nash on board. Nash, Kobe and Howard could be good enough to win on their own.

Lakers probably need something else if they are giving up Bynum and Gasol and also taking on the Harrington contract. Plus, I don't think the Magic will be OK with Gasol and Afflalo.

I'm thinking someone (Nuggets) will have to throw a 1st Rd pick and/or young player the Magic's way (after all, they are getting Iggy for only Afflalo and getting rid of Harrington's contract), and the Sixers would probably have to take a bad contract from the Lakers (World Peace?).

I've always felt that Howard wouldn't make it to training camp in Orlando, but then again, I'm of the opinion that if he isn't traded that his back injury will 'linger' as long as it takes for him to get traded.

LA would be better off with Bynum + Gasol than with Howard alone. Luxury tax concerns don't make sense since Kobe's and Gasol's contracts will expire by then.

I think Orlando can do better than Afflalo and Gasol. They're not giving up Richardson or any othe bad contract. They would be better off trading Bynum for Howard straight up and then use the bird rights to entice him to resign. If that fails they can trade him at the deadline.

Isn't Dano a "SF"? Even if he is a PF, they just gave Wilson Chandler a new deal. But they shouldn't complain if they're getting rid of Harrington in this deal.

Not so sure, Howard would be a massive defensive improvement, and not that big an offensive downgrade. And looking beyond the strictly on-paper comparison, the Kobe/Gasol/Bynum trio has underachieved the last couple years. I give the current team very slim chances of getting past the Thunder.

Other sources out there have said that Vuc could be going out on our end; HoopsWorld also reported a scenario where Gasol and Harrington aren't in the deal at all. We're still getting Bynum in that scenario.

Bynum- Approve
Gasol- approve(as long as no additional assets are traded). I really have no idea if it makes us better to trade Gasol for Iggy, but I think its worth a shot to see how much better it makes us to have a big who is a legit threat inside.

I'll say approve to both, with Bynum obviously being a HUGE preference. Gasol is signed for 2 years, I think, so they aren't making a long-term commitment. I don't think they're going anywhere in the next two seasons w/ either Iguodala or Gasol, so at least we'd get a chance to see Jrue play w/ a legit big man for a couple years, see something new.

Bynum's got pedigree but needs further training in etiquette. Let someone else empty Fort Knox for his tall, intermittent services. I don't trust him to commit to Philadelphia's purpose. He and Collins seem like a match made in Clifton Heights.

If team only wants freedom from anaconda contractual obligation to "Junkman" Iguodala, it works. Too, eight wings on a runway is a crowd.

In closing, as much as it hurts, I approve a trade of Andre Iguodala for the minimum take of a DVD of Wilson Washington's greatest rebounds.

I was actually wondering about that just the other day, like a week ago (or two?) it was 'imminent' and then all went quiet - I wonder if these talks are why or did Penn decide not to be interested because he has no say?

I'm not sure Bynum can coexist w/ Kobe at this point. If he's going to become a dominant center, he needs the team to be about him, feeding him. That's never going to happen w/ Kobe on the team, no matter how old he is. LA has a year, maybe two, with Nash and Kobe, Howard gives them a much better shot in that window, imo. I don't really care about LA, though, just get the deal done, please.

Yeah, but hawes can be the four who makes those silky 15 footers (and can't rebound :)

I really hope they had NO INKLING going into the off season that this was even a minute possibility - cause it just makes the other signings worse - and seriously - keeping brand to play with bynum might have made sense.

Jrue
Young
Turner
Thad
Bynum

That would be one of the youngest starting fives in the nba wouldn't it?

N.B. Bynum and ET have the same birthday (10/27) but Bynum is 1 year older and not a BUST.

Not a contender (yet), but amazingly young, talented and balanced- with strength at the right positions to grow into a serious contender as the super-teams age.

I’ll be shocked and stoked if this happens. I don’t even care about whether this leads to a championship because at least they would be trying to win it all, and it would be tremendously compelling to watch it unfold.

With Bynum growing up an hour from Philly, and being able to offer him the most money, there's a decent chance we get this guy for his prime - especially as the focal point of a young team in a hungry city.

Yeah, saw that above. I wonder if that was why it didn't get done until today? Hard to believe there wouldn't have been a leak in one of the four organizations if this had been in the works for a while, and they were just waiting for Harkless' contract to season.

If, and I emphasize IF, this really does happen (please, please!) it harkens me back to one of the greatest days in my Sixer fandom history -

September 15, 1982!!!

And most should know what went down that day. And how sweet it was, by only being ~10 days after an offer sheet was matched by the Houston Rockets, they traded the damn guy to us ......... M.O.S.E.S Malonnneeee!

Something funny - ESPN listed all the players in the trade but ran out of room for the magic, so as the 'footer' they listed one player and the three picks...harkless name is 'big' next to afflalo and harrington and voose is shunted to the bottom :)

That's just too simple, JEM. And you know it. Me thinks you're just sandbagging on giving credit. No way they just lucked into an arguably top 2 center in the game by sitting back chilling ordering ribs at Chili's. You're better than that man...

this is one hell of a tease.
If they pull it off, all past sins shall be forgiven; Nocioni and Hawes included.
If so, might shift the dynamics of rebuilding, all of a sudden retaining Holiday becomes essential and reportedly will be costly. All welcome troubles when you acquire an Andrew Bynum.

Serious question - we commit robbery by ending up with Bynum. Why does Denver want Andre though? I mean, giving up Afflalo who is a better shooter (seems he is at least) and a pretty formidable defender. Why would they want/need Iguodala?

If you honestly look at this proposed trade, to me, Philly clearly makes out like the lead bandit. How is that possible? Do the Lakers really think Dwight is that much of a difference maker than Bynum? I mean, to end up with Bynum AND Jason Richardson? That's way better than the Lakers getting what I think is an overrated Dwight Howard. Way better, to me.

Cause no one is denying it - you got four organizations - you got a handful of players - two who can be free agents next season if they don't sign extensions - and NO ONE is talking - every other time one of the franchises or agents opened their mouths one way or another.

Has anyone from any organization or player / agent said a thing?

The silence of the 'major players' in the deal makes me think it's for real

Sure they made some bad moves... but it is all irrelevant now. They are clearly:

1. Swinging for the fences.
2. Building around a physically dominant young center + Jrue.
3. Actually has a roster that fits (bigs to spell Bynum when he has to miss some time, shooters, youth, athletes, perfect spot for Thad.)
4. The 2 year thing could be really great if this all plays out the way it could. They could potentially turn their 2 year garbage contracts into one more big ticket player who puts them over the top.
5. This suggests to me they are willing to spend (paying Brand and headed towards the tax .)

I can still criticize two years to Spencer Hawes and Kwame Brown which were stupid before this - and the mishandling (as I see it) of Elton Brand because of Lavoy Allen - especially now - where for one year brand could have been a really important part of this team.

Great move, great move, but that doesn't mean they are a great organization or have proven they know what they were doing - on balance most of their moves have been puzzling - they made a great move tonight - helped along by two organizations really seeming to want to get this done...AND having a great asset (contrary to the belief of some) to facilitate a deal...but one great deal doesn't a great organization make...and if Bynum walks after next year, they're still screwed :)

Bynum could walk- but they have proven to me that they are on the right track. Taking a risk on a 25 year old physically dominant center is great compared to more years of treading water with a bunch of quality good players.

100X better than had they gome into next year trying to upgrade with vet talent (Iggy + gasol or some other 30+ quality big.)

Sad to see iguodala leaving a great player who will be missed by some fans. Hopefully Andrew signs an extension with us or resigns back I really hope that's the case I don't want to see a one yr rental.

It was well past the time for Igy to move on to the next stage of his career.

I am glad he got to go out on a bright note (playoff success/All-Star/Olympics as a Sixer and now moves on to a quality team. Berst of luck to him, but I honestly did not want him back next season. This team needed to go in a younger direction.

You missed last season didn't you? The one where bynum stayed healthy?

BTW - Woj gets another one - lending more credibility to his sixers expose dismissed by others - I must admit - this sounds liked utter BS when it came public - I mean come on - who really believed it?

Kind of funny though that the original AI got shipped to Denver for a decent PG and some scraps, while AI2 gets shipped to the same place for a big-time center and a heck of a shooter. You would have thought the real AI would have brought back the biggest prize but it may end up being flipped. Guess that's the Billy King effect.

Really...there are people who are concerned because the sixers gave up Harkless and Voose - I mean it's not like they gave up the yoda like future of the sixers or anything...i mean that would have sucked - if they got bynum but had to give up turner? That would have been tragic.

The rest of their moves this summer now sorta make sense...a shooter who can hit the three and play sf...a bench scorer to replace louwill who can hit the three and excels in catch and shoots...a backup center in kwame...hawes is still questionable, but now dc's rumblings about playing him at the 4 make sense...

Our Sixers will be, assuming everything goes smoothly tomorrow, in the top tier of the Eastern Conference...additionally, they now matchup quite well against Miami, who has run into the most difficulty in the last 2 years against teams with a 5 who is an offensive force and can block shots/protect the rim on defense and force james/wade into taking more jumpers...

Unbelievable, right?My cousin texted me about an hour ago, I had been away from TV/internet all day but immediately rushed to espn.com...super excited right now...plenty of time to examine Bynum's foibles later...right now, it's time to be legitimately excited about a Sixers team for the first time in at least a decade

I'm not gonna get all excited about this until we see what we have, Bynum can just up and leave after this year and that'll be it. A lot of how this year goes is on Turner, if he can step it up (and now with Iggy gone, he'll have some more breathing room) then we'll have a decent squad. And let's see how Bynum does this year.

I've always felt Hawes would be a fine backup and it's nice to see that come to fruition. My way too early depth chart had Brown ahead of him at the five and Thad manning the starting four spot. Attempt #2 for the nine man rotation:

This trade not only brought in a stud center in Bynum... but the ripple effects make many of the current Sixers much better players.

1. Jrue now has that athletic big we always thought he needed to raise his game to another level. I can resume my Payton/Kemp banter...

2. Thad all of the sudden went from overpaid bench player to impact quick PF. There are 2 current quality established centers that Thad can play full time PF next to.... and the Sixers have one of them.

3. Hawes' oh so many weaknesses due to softness and lack of defense/fotspeed have now been masked by putting him behind (and sometimes next to) Bynum.

4. If Lavoy can perfect his jumper he is now a really effective starter given what the team can physically bring to the table with a Bynum/Lavoy defensive frontcourt. No one in the East can come close physically in terms of interior defense and rebounding. Lavoy/Thad is the perfect PF rotation to put next to Bynum. Not so good a combo next to Hawes or Kwame.

5. ET should have a better chance of finishing with Bynum in the lane. And Bynum should turn some of the misses into dunks. Also, ET can pass and now has an A level finisher to pass to.

6. Moultre's weak defense now seems not such a red flag. He might develop into the perfect athletic stretch 4 to pair with Bynum.

All of these Sixers are better players now that Bynum is a Sixer. All of these players fit perfectly with the current construction of this team (even the lousy ones like Hawes.)

I'm going to dig my eyes out w/ a grapfruit spoon if I see Hawes handling the ball at the high post and them trying to run some bullshit high-low game w/ Bynum. Glue Hawes to the bench, let Kwame play the 13 minutes/game Bynum isn't and stick with Thad/Allen at the four.

Amazing that the media is SOOOOO focused on only Dwight Howard being moved here. No mention at all of Andrew Bynum changing places or Andre Iguodala. Bynum and Howard are the two biggest pieces in this mega-deal and the attention is heaped upon Howard almost solely.